Garlic: The Stinking Rose

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The Stinking Rose

Garlic is known universally as the stinking rose. The term is reportedly going back to Greek and Roman times.

But why? The “stinking” part is obvious, but why “rose?” Garlic is an allium that is part of the Liliaceae family. Garlic is closer to a lily than a rose. So what is the origin of the name?

Garlic: The Stinking RoseOddly enough, there is no definite answer to this question.

The edible bulb is made up of sections called cloves, which are encased in a parchmentlike membrane. Three major varieties are available in the US: the white-skinned strongly flavored American garlic; Mexican and Italian garlic, which have mauve-colored skins and a somewhat milder flavor.

Then there is the white-skinned, sweet-flavored elephant garlic, which is not a true garlic, but a relative of the leek.

Green garlic is young garlic before it begins to form cloves; resembling a baby leek, with a long green top and white bulb. Garlic’s essential oils remain in the body long after consumption, affecting breath and even skin odor.

Garlic and Cholesterol – Garlic and Pregnancy

3 Comments
  1. Avatar of Angie
    Angie says

    Spaghetti Aglio, Olio & Pepperoncino:
    A quick recipe to wake up the dead and dying!

    for 4 people:

      500 gr. of spaghetti
      1 garlic head (yes, the whole head, or more!)
      1 teaspoon of dried red pepper (pepperoncino)
      one cup of virgin olive oil

    while boiling the spaghetti, you chop the garlic in transparently thin slices and fry them in a small part of the olive oil. Once browned, add the red pepper and take the mixture off the gas.

    Once boiled and dried, put the spaghetti back in the same pan you boiled her in and add the mixture. Just add the rest of the (crude) olive oil, and voila!

    Serve hot with freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano (Parmesan cheese),
    Buon appetito!

  2. Avatar of Jerry Bolton
    Jerry Bolton says

    Out of all these articles I picked this one to respond to first, because I LOVE GARLIC, Besides, I live down here in the swamps of south Louisiana where to keep the voodoo queens away you have to have garlic, because, oh shoot! that’s vampires. Oh well. Garlic! we throw whole heads of the stuff when we boil crawfish and talk about good, just pop the garlic gloves out with your thumb and finger and in your mouth it goes. Yesssss!

  3. Avatar of Eva Blaskovic
    Eva Blaskovic says

    There’s no such thing as too much garlic!

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